Oyster-dredge



H. C. TAYLOR.

OYSTER DREDGE.

APPLICATION FILED IuNE 6. 1919.

1,823, 122. Patented Nov. 25, 1919.

HABRELL C. TAYLOR.,A 0F SEALEVEL, NORTH CAROLINA.

'oYs'rER-Dnnnen* Specification of Letters Patent.

Patenteauwza 1919.

Appli'dati'on med June c, 1919. serial Ne; 302,272.`

To allwtom 1f/may concern:

Be it lrnown that I, HARRELL C. TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sealevel, in the county of Carteret and State of NorthCarolina, have invented certain new' and useful Improvements in Oyster-Dredges, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention is an oyster dredge and has for its principal object theproduction of a devicewhich may be placed on the bed of a stream andpropelledby any suitable power, and under such conditions will. digoysters from an oyster bed and will etliciently cull the small oystersfrom the large oysters allowingl the smaller oysters toy be dropped backinto the bed, while the larger oysters willv be conveyed back into areceiving receptacle. V s

Another object of this invention is the production of an oyster dredgewherein a plurality `of lrotating agitators are provided whichwilleficiently cull the oysters passing thereover, these agitatorsbeingof such construction as to move the-larger oysters rearwardly, theoysters also passing over gratings through which the smaller oystersfmayfall, the oysters then being finally deposited within a receptacle wherethey may be removed from, when desired.

One practical form of construction and assembly of the'present inventionwill `be hereinafter described andv is illustrated in the drawing, inwhich y Figure 1 is a side elevation of the oyster dredge constructed inaccordance with4 the present invention, a portion of the receivingreceptacle being krbroken away.j Y l n Fig. 2 isV an enlarged sectionalView .taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section Vthrough the forward portion ofthe dredge.

In the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, about to be`specifically described, the scoop and asserting portion of the dredgecomprises a pair'of-parallel vside walls 5 having sleeves 6 vat theirupper and lower edges in which strands 7 are carried, Y

the forward endsfof the strands. being provided with eyes whereby'links9 connected to a draw bar or cablelO. are secured, vthus allowing thedredge to be' connectedy to a I' boat or other towing means, thus,permitting l the dredge to hev dragged. along. the. bottom ofthe streamor body of water for` operating in its correct manner.

The bottom of the receptacleV is of solid material 11V although thelower strands 7 are carried. thereby,` thus connecting the receptacle tothe scoop and assortinglportion of the dredge. The upper strands 7 mayalso extend rearwardly, thus permitting the side walls 12 of mesh, to beconnected to the bottom and also to the upper strand to form an inclosedreceptacle. The rear end of` the receptacle may be closed by a suitableform of gate 13, whereby after the same has been filled it may be easilyemptied as desired. It should be noted that the forward end of thebottom 11 is curved upwardly as shown at 11 thus allowing the bottom 11to'ride evenly over small oysters which may be culled and dischargedvfrom the 'larger oysters and also allow the bottom llto ride an. oysterbed and cause the oysters to slide upwardly therealong asl the dredgemoves forwardly. An inclined grating comprises a pair of end strips 16fiXedupon the, inner y slanting downwardly. ThereforeV the claws willdig intok surfaces of the side walls 5 and connectedy itogeth'er byvtransversely extending rods 17 reinforced intermediate their endsbysimilar strips 16. As. the rods 17 are spaced apart in any'desireddistance, it is obvious the passingl of oysters thereonto the forwardends of the claws 15 will cause the oysters continuedmovement of oystersup overthey claws 15'will continue Vto forceY the larger grating.

4oysters rearwardly l,beyond the forward A pair of drive shafts`18 arecarried by the side walls 5. and have enlarged drive lwheels 19 on-theirouter ends, these vspurred drive wheels engaging the bottom of theYstream toI cause rotary motion to be. im-l roo partedto theshafts 18 as.the dredge moves.

forwarlly. Other shafts 20 are journaled in the side walls 5 parallel tothe driving shafts 18 and these last mentioned shaft-s 2O have radiatingfingers 21 extending therefrom as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Each pair ofshafts 2O have gears 22 keyed thereon and meshing with similar gears 23keyed upon the drive shafts 18. j rIherefore, although the drive shafts155` will rotate forwardly the finger shafts 2O will-be rotatedrearwardly. Two such series as described are herein illustrated,although it is obvious that any number desired can be employed withoutdepartingffrom the spirit of the present invention. The grating at theforward end of the scoop and assorting device direct the larger oystersonto the forward shaft and fingers thereof above the shaft as shown inFig. 2. As these shafts will be rotated rearwardly, the fingers willthrow the oysters rearwardly, it being noted that the fingers are spacedapart at a suhicient distance to allow the smaller oysters to falltherebetween. The movement of the larger oysters rearwardly however,will progress owing to the fact that the oysters will be fed alongtoward the rear portion of the scoop from one lingered shaft to the nextuntil they are finally deposited upon the Vdownwardly slanting gratingat the rear end of the scoop and contiguous to the forward end of thereceptacle. This grating comprises end strips 24 connected bytransversely extending rods 25 reinforced by strips 2li intermediatetheir ends. The

oysters which will slide across and downwardly along the rear gratingwillV be deposited within the interior of the receptacle.

Itwill be noted that when the device is in use, it is placed upon thebottom of a stream and may then be pulled or propelled forwardly in anydesired manner. The claws 15 will sink down into the oyster bed, causingthe large and small oysters alike to be elevated and pushed rearwardlytherealong and over the forward upwardly inclined grating. It is truethat some of the small oysters may fall through this grating 16,although a greater portion of the oysters will be passed from thisgrating onto the rearwardly rotating fingers 21. The movement of thesefingers will further cause the oysters to be further agitated and as thelingers are moving beneath the water itis obvious mud will be washedfrom the selected'oysters, while the smaller oysters will slip betweenthe fingers and fall back into the bed of the stream. The larger oysterswill be thrown rearwardly and finally will pass over the rods 25 of therear Vldownwardly slanting` grating and will finally be deposited withinthe receptacle where they are retained until finally removed. Thusoysters in original condition may be lifted 'from the bed of the streambut before being deposited within the receptacle will be assorted, thesmaller oysters being dropped back into the stream while the mud will bewashedv from the larger oysters. As the forward end of the bottom 11 ofthe receptacle is curved upwardly, the receptacle will easily ride overthe smaller oysters which are dropped back into the bed of the stream asspecified.

As above stated the number of fingers on the shaft is an immaterialmatter, for' it may be spaced apart suiiiciently to allow comparativelylarge oysters to fall therebetween or may be sufficiently close togetherto allow the smaller ones to be so assorted and discharged. 'Ihe same istrue also of the forward and rear grating. As above stated however, itwill be seen that a very simple and eiiicient oyster dredge has beenprovided which may be positioned in the bed of a stream and may beeasily propelled under such conditions to efficiently lift oysters andmove the same rearwardly toward the receptacle during such operationefficiently washing the oysters and discharging the smaller ones so thatonly the larger oysters in a clean condition will be deposited withinthe receptacle.

rIhe foregoing description and the drawings have reference to what maybe considered the preferred, or approved form of my invention. It is tobe understood that I' may make such changes in construction andarrangement and combination of parts, materials, dimensions, et cetra,as may prove expedient and fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I-Iaving thus fully described my invention, what vI claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is l. In a device of the characterdescribed, the combination of a scoop, a digging means in said scoop, aconveying and assorting means within said scoop which will also agitateoysters to wash the same as the same are moving within the scoop and areceptacle at the rear end of said scoop.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a scoophaving a digging means at its forward end, gratings carried at theforward end of the scoop adjacent the` digging means, and also adjacentthe rear end thereof, a receptacle connected to Asaid scoop adjacent therear end of the rear grating, and an agitating and assorting meanscarried by said scoop between said gratings.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a scoopincluding a pair of parallel side walls, a receptacle connected to therear ends'of said walls and including an upturned bottom, digging clawsextending from the forward end of said walls, an upwardly inclinedgrating extending from the rear end of said claws and including spacedrods, an inclined grating adjacent the rear ends of said walls, parallelshafts carried by said walls, means for driving a plurality of saidshafts, gears on all of said` shafts for connecting the shafts together,whereby all the shafts may be simultaneously rotated,

Y and radiating ngers extending from a plurality of the shafts, wherebyoysters dug by said claws will be Vcarried over the/forward grating anddeposited upon said fingers where they will be agitated to allow thesmall ones to fall between the fingers and the large ones will be movedrearwardly and be washed, the large oysters being finally deposited onthe rear grating to slide downwardly to the receptacle.

4:. In a device of the character described, the combination of a scoophaving a digging means at its forward end, an upwardly inclined gratingat the forward end of the scoop in the rear of said digging means, adownwardly inclined grating at the rear end of said scoop, a receptacleconnected to said scoop adjacent the rear grating, and an agitating andassorting means carried by said scoop between said gratings.

5. In a device ofthe class described, the combination of a scoopincluding a pair of parallel side walls, a receptacle connected to therear ends of said walls, digging claws extending from the forward endsof said walls, an upwardly inclined grating extending from the rear endof said walls and including spaced rods, an inclined grating adjacentthe rear ends of said walls, parallel shafts carried by said walls,means for driving a plurality of shafts, gears on all of said shafts forconnecting the shafts together,

whereby all the shafts may be simultaneously rotated, and radiatingfingers extending from a plurality of shafts, as and for the purposesset forth. j l

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a scoopincluding a pair of parallel side walls, a receptacle connected to therear ends of said walls, digging means at the forward ends of saidwalls, an upwardlyinclined grating extending from the rear of saiddigging means and including spaced rods, an inclined grating adjacentthe rear ends of said walls, parallel shaftscarried by said walls, meansfor driving a plurality of said shafts, gearson all of said shafts forconnecting the shafts together, whereby all shafts may be simultaneouslyrotated, radiating fingers extending from said shafts, as and for thepurposes set forth.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a scoopincluding a pair of parallel side walls, a receptacle connected to therear ends of said walls, digging means at the forward ends of saidWalls, an upwardly inclined grating extending from the rear end of saiddigging means and including spaced rods, an inclined grating adjacenttherear ends of said walls, parallel shafts carried by said walls,radiating fingers extending fromy said shafts, and means forsimultaneously rotating said shafts, as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRELL C. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

R. G. STYRON, J. W. STYRoN.

